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Queens Couple Pleads Guilty to Enslaving Children

A Queens couple has pleaded guilty to enslaving two children. (Published Thursday, July 20, 2017)

A husband and wife from Queens have pleaded guilty to enslaving two children from Korea, forcing them to do housework, provide massages, and turn over pay from outside jobs, prosecutors in New York said Wednesday.

The Flushing couple — 54-year-old Jeong Taek Lee and his wife, 50-year-old Sook Yeon Park — were charged on two counts of labor trafficking. Lee was sentenced to five months’ probation, while his wife faces six months in prison followed by five years’ probation.

“This case is very disturbing. The Flushing pair were supposed to provide a safe home for the youngsters, but instead the children were held hostage and forced to work long hours on behalf of the couple,” Brown said.

From April 2013 to January 2016, the girl was forced to work various after-school jobs, including at a grocery store, a nail salon and a restaurant, and as a babysitter, handing all her wages over to the couple, court documents show.

The couple also forced the girl do chores, including housecleaning, 10 hours every day. She gave Park back and foot massages, as well as manicures and pedicures.

Park forbade the children to contact their parents when she wasn’t present to coach them on what to say. Park also regularly hit the two with objects, slapped or kicked them and stepped on their legs, according to the documents.

The police found out about the situation when the children finally reported the abuse to school administrators, who contacted officials.